Search This Blog

The appalling treatment of asylum seekers

It is a conundrum. How best to deal with those fleeing from one country to another. There are thousands of people on the march across Europe, from Africa to Europe, from Mexico into the USA and in Asia from a variety of countries to Australia. The means employed in seeking to re-locate are often downright dangerous. As but one example, witness those drowned at sea when attempting to journey by a rickety vessel from Indonesia to Australia.

Whilst labelled "illegal immigrants", under international law, they are not. That aside, two reports in the last days highlight how inhumanely many of these immigrants are being treated.

Example #1:"A record number of children are being held in closed immigration detention - despite the government's pledge most would be out by last June.Almost 2000 asylum-seeker children are being held on Manus Island, Christmas Island and elsewhere in forms of detention that restrict their movements.Advocacy groups and politicians say the children are being held in contravention of their human rights, and often in harsh, remote environments.Despite the federal government policy that ''children not be held in immigration detention centres'', the numbers now are even greater than when former immigration minister Chris Bowen said the aim was for the ''majority'' of children to be out of detention by June 2011."

Example #2:"The Identification and Expulsion Center, a detention complex on the outskirts of Rome where illegal immigrants can be held for months before deportation, is not a prison. But the difference seems mostly a question of semantics.Tall metal fences separate rows of drab low-lying barracks into individual units that are locked down at night, when the concrete courtyards are lit bright as day. There are security cameras. Some guards wear riot gear. Detainees can move around in designated areas during the day, but they are forced to wear slippers, or shoes without laces, so as not harm themselves or others. After a revolt in the men’s section, sharp objects — including pens, pencils and combs — were banned."

It has been hot in Sydney, Australia. Damn hot!.....and record-breaking. So, because of climate change? Yes, say the scientists.

"Southeastern Australia has suffered through a series of brutal heat waves over the past two months, with temperatures reaching a scorching 113 degrees Fahrenheit in some parts of the state of New South Wales.

“It was nothing short of awful,” said Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick, of the Climate Change Research Center at the University of New South Wales, in Sydney. “In Australia, we’re used to a little bit of heat. But this was at another level.”

So Dr. Perkins-Kirkpatrick, who studies climate extremes, did what comes naturally: She looked to see whether there was a link between the heat and human-driven climate change.

Her analysis, conducted with a loose-knit group of researchers called World Weather Attribution, was made public on Thursday. Their conclusion was that climate change made maximum temperatures like those seen in January and February at least…